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UMass Amherst continues advance in rankings, rising to No. 27 among public universities

Amherst

U.S. News and World Report ranks flagship campus No. 74 among all public, private, and for-profit institutions in Best National Universities category.

AMHERST, Mass. – The University of Massachusetts Amherst continues its climb among the top ranks of the nation’s best public universities, moving up another two positions this year to No. 27 in the 2017 Best Colleges guide released today by U.S. News & World Report.

“This year’s ranking by U.S. News is a recognition of the outstanding academic programs on our campus and the excellence of our faculty, students, staff and alumni,” said UMass Amherst Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy. “Our steady rise in these rankings is a reflection of our campus’ commitment to offer exceptional educational opportunities to our students whose success will have a profound impact in shaping the commonwealth’s future success.”

UMass Amherst was ranked as a Top 30 national public university for the first time in 2014 and moved up to No. 29 last year. In the 2017 rankings, UMass Amherst shares the No. 27 spot with two other schools. There are more than 600 public, four-year universities in the country.

UMass Amherst also advanced one slot to No. 74 in the Best National Universities category, which consists of 310 public, private and for-profit institutions. The rankings continue the sustained and impressive progress made by the commonwealth’s flagship campus, which was 40th among Public National Universities and No. 91 among National Universities just three years ago.

The U.S. News rankings are based on a variety of weighted factors: graduation rate performance, undergraduate academic reputation, faculty resources, graduation and retention rates, alumni giving, financial resources, student selectivity and high school counselor ratings. All of the schools in the National Universities category offer a wide range of undergraduate majors as well as master’s and doctoral degrees while emphasizing faculty research.

This fall, UMass Amherst again welcomed an accomplished entering class. More than 41,000 students applied for admission, a 2 percent increase over the prior year. The average SAT score for the entering class is 1225 and their high school grade-point average is 3.82. On average, first-year students ranked in the top fifth of their high school class. The entering class numbers about 4,650 students. Overall undergraduate enrollment this fall is estimated at 21,710, up from last year’s 21,308. In-state enrollment is about 16,725 or 77 percent of the student body.